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Capacitor log Mundorf Silver in Oil

I wished I could find a log with information on caps. I have found many saying tremendous improvement etc. but not a detailed account of what the changes have been. I have had the same speakers for many years so am very familiar with them. (25+ years) The speakers are a set of Klipsch Lascala's. They have Alnico magnets in the mids and ceramic woofers and tweeters. The front end is Linn LP12 and Linn pre amp and amp. The speaker wire is 12 gauge and new wire.

I LOVE these speakers around 1 year ago they started to sound like garbage. As many have said they are VERY sensitive to the components before them. They are also showing what I think is the effect of worn out caps.

There are many out here on these boards I know of that are using the Klipsch (heritage) with cheaper Japanese electronics because the speakers are cheap! (for what they can do) One thing I would recommend is give these speakers the best quality musical sources you can afford. There is a LOT to get out of these speakers. My other speakers are Linn speakers at around 4k new with Linn tri-wire (I think about 1k for that) and the Klipsch DESTROY them in my mind. If you like "live feel" there is nothing like them. In fact it shocks me how little speakers have improved in 30 years (or 60 years in the Khorns instance)

In fact I question Linn's theory (that they have proved many times) that the source is the most important in the Hi-Fi chain. Linn's theory is top notch source with lessor rest of gear including speakers trumps expensive speakers with lessor source. I think is right if all things are equal but Klipsch heritage are NOT equal! They make a sound and feel that most either LOVE or hate. (I am in the LOVE camp and other speakers are boring to me)

So here goes and I hope this helps guys looking at caps in the future. Keep in mind Klipsch (heritage Khorns Belle's and Lascala's especially) are likely to show the effects of crossover changes more then most.

1 The caps are 30 years old and
2 the speakers being horn driven make changes 10x times more apparent.

Someone once told me find speakers and components you like THEN start to tweak if needed. Don't tweak something you not in love with. Makes sense to me.

So sound
Record is Let it Be (Beatles)
The voices are hard almost sounds like a worn out stylus.
Treble is very hard. I Me Mine has hard sounding guitars. Symbals sound awful. Everything has a digital vs. analog comparison x50! Paul's voice not as bad as John's and George's. Voices will crack.

different lp
Trumpets sound awful. Tambourine terrible. Bass is not great seems shy (compared to normal) but the bad caps draw soooooo much attention to the broken up mid range and hard highs that are not bright if anything it seems the highs are not working up to snuff. I have went many times to speaker to make sure tweeters are even working.

All in all they sound like crap except these Klipsch have such fantastic dynamics that even when not right they are exciting!

Makes me wonder about the people who do not like them if they are hearing worn out caps and cheap electronics? Then I can see why they do not like them! If I did not know better from 25+ years of ownership that would make sense.

For the new crossover I have chosen Mundorf Silver in Oil from what I have read and can afford. I want a warm not overly detailed sound as Klipsch already has lots of detail and does not need to be "livened up" they need lush smooth sounding caps. Hope I have made the right choice?

When the crossover is in I will do a initial impression on same lp's. Right now it goes from really bad (on what may be worn vinyl) to not as bad but NOT great on great vinyl. (I know the quality of the vinyl because tested on other speakers Linn)

The new caps are Mundorf Silver in Oil and new copper foil inductors are coming. I will at the same time be rewiring the speakers to 12 guage from the lamp cord that PWK put in. PWK was a master at getting very good sound often with crap by today's standards components.

The choice of speakers would be a toss up now depending on what I am listening to. Klipsch vastly more dynamic but if the breaking up of the sound becomes to much to effect enjoyment the Linn would be a better choice on that Lp. If I could I would switch a button back and forth between speakers depending on song and how bad the break-up sound was bothering me.

volleyguy
vn101606
73 posts
 
TAS: Positioning and Support would be where each component is in the external crossover board, how far away the inductors are from each other and their orientation, how the components are fixed in the board, the rigidity of the board (did not change) and the support of the board (cones, Stillpoints, etc). The big 56uF cap (for the midrange circuit) was previously outside of the board (directly in the floor...) and on its side, now it is facing up and in the board. I don't know the effect of each change, but all the changes added up to a nice improvement.

Grannyring: Thank you. I will keep posting the changes.

Cheers, VPN
vn101606
73 posts
 
BTW, I am back to using just the passive crossover, took out the bi-amplification. It is sounding better now. Sometime from now I will measure again and try again to get a better result from bi-amping (I will keep the second pair of amps and the Pass XVR-1 there waiting...).

Any suggestions for a better 220uF capacitor than Solen? It is used in the secondary (parallel) circuit of the 15" XO portion. Duelund CAST or Duelund RS is not an option given how much it would cost for 220uF, being in a secondary portion of the circuit.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,467 posts
 
Tas

I have Duelund CAST caps in my Dude as well as upgraded signal wire, resistors and extra power supply capacitance. I have the Jupiter Copper foil caps coming Wednesday and will put them in the Dude. I like them better as they are just more musical based on my experience in electronics only thus far. More even handed top to bottom with equal resolution and superior micro details and bass.

I also plan to put them in my speakers once the speaker values are out.
tasouli
39 posts
 
Bill

That's very interesting. Sounds as though you've been very thorough in your revision of the Dude components. Tell me, if you were to buy a new Dude preamp now, would the preamp builder include the parts mods that you've performed while they're assembling the preamp? I only ask because it appears that TRL are very good at recognising improvements suggested by their customers.

Can I ask you what brand/type fuses & wire you've used in your upgrades please?

Very interesting to observe the level of performance tuning that some of you are performing. Inspiring really

Cheers, Tas
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,467 posts
 
Hi Tas, Paul the builder/owner at TRL is the one who has helped me with any improvements. He uses Duelund and now Jupiter copper foil caps, will build a Dude with increased capacitance, one or two volumes, with 2 or 4 6sn7 tubes, and on and on.

He suggested resistor types and what they sound like. I did change the signal wire, but that is just my own need to tweak and play as the solid core copper he uses is just fine. I just have to play with my soldering iron :)

Fuses? Never as they hurt the sound. Paul designs his gear without them and his gear is absolutely stable and bullet proof. I won't go into the details, but he uses other methods and avoids fuses altogether.

Paul is expert at what a music system should sound like due to his vast recording experience and always shoots for live and alive sounding gear. He designs in a way that assures his gear will not hold back or do harm to the intended musical experience. With TRL gear you get it all in terms of the energy, detail, scale and impact.
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